[Edit 1:] this rant is based on early supertest stats. As some have pointed out, at the very least DPM will be buffed. I don't think my rant is less warranted because of that, there are still plenty of things that can turn out to be fail incarnate in this tank. After all, we have seen tanks go through buffs, nerfs, changes in supertest, only to end up different in the end.
Here's the TL;DR at the beginning: the IS-2-II is so much worse than the Obj 703 that it makes me laugh and sick at the same time. Buff the damn thing!
Now, I want you all to picture the AMX 65t in your head. And now a Liberte. Back to the 65t again. Now, I want you to picture a Tiger. And after that Tiger, a T29. Next up, I want you all to think of a Renegade or Patriot, and then a T32.
Have I got your blood pressure up enough yet? Good! Let the hate flow through you, and continue on.
So the Liberte is to the AMX 65t what Obama is to Trump sorry can't be political here, what Boris Johnson is to Theresa May OH CHUCKS IT KEEPS HAPPENING what War Thunder is to WoT oh boy this is going to be bad, keep smiling, what the AK-47 is to an elastic band shooter. That sounds about right.
I dug up some stats. The tier 8 dual barrel tank, cleverly named the IS-2-II, because it looks nothing like an IS-2 but it does have II barrels, unless WG changes it drastically, will suffer immensely from AMX 65t syndrome. The premium tank is so much better that it can make a grown man spontaniously combust in anger. The tech tree tank as it is on supertest will be a massive xp sink for paying players, and it will be a massive hurdle on the road to the tier 9 and 10 machines. It will be the next 65t, TVP, Black Prince, or whatever your personal poison is.
Lets start off with a link I dug up:
First of all, you get stock 85mm guns. Oh boy Atuin, will they be good 85mm guns like the ones on the LT-432 I heard you say? Naahh fam, uncle WG has got you covered with a whopping 120 pen and 160 premium pen on a tier 8 heavy. Yeah. Let that one sink in. That's a stock gun that's worse than quite a few tier 6 stock guns. Don't worry though, you have two of them. It's a bit like being that guy who's proud of having 2 STD's at one given time. Well done buddy, real achievement, but you're still a first grade moron.
There will probably be a middle-ground 100mm gun or something, expect pen values like on the KV-85 100mm gun. However, we all know that this is a tech tree for the ones who saved free xp, so let's skip straight through the top gun. Now, you bet your ass that the top gun (100mm) will require a lot of xp to unlock. Two guns Ivan, da, also must grind double xp then haha. And then you're dealing with two 100mm guns with similar pen to the Obj 703, but 90 less alpha per shell and still a long reload. For a grand total of 1277 DPM. The 703 sits at a comfy 1952 DPM. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this will be the lowest DPM tier 8 heavy, barring of course my old mate Steve in his IS-3 firing HE at my Caravan's turret. But at least he's doing something.
Edit 2:]: as) u/avalon304 has pointed out, the tank might actually be buffed on supertest. DPM is now 2200. I have to say I have a hard time believing that, but we'll see how it goes.
Consider now the name of the tank, in which we find the letters IS and 2. While the turret looks nice I don't have high hopes for the hull considering that name. Before we go and compare it to the premium, lets go to the expected tier 9, the IS-3-II original name, do not steal has an IS-3 shaped hull but with a 145mm value on paper instead of 110. That will give it about 270-280 max frontal armour according to my non-scientific guesses and a quick look on tanks.gg. Hey look, that's what the tier 8 premium gets! Will the tier 8 tech tree get that armour? No. Just flat out no. This thing will be lucky if it gets 180mm effective.
Now that we were talking about tier 7 tanks there, remember that this tank will spring forth from the KV-3. So you've already had a pretty rough time to grind 65k xp from that one. I liked the KV-3, but I have been extremely lucky in it.
Will the IS-2 be much faster then, oh wise and now quite upset Atuin? No, I don't think it will either. With a P/W of 15 and similar traverse speeds to the 703, it might seem a bit faster than the 703 who has 12 P/W, but I expect WG to use some of their black magic voodoo terrain resistance magic to keep the IS-2 in check. It will be a bit faster, but I'm not holding out for E-75 TS speeds.
Will at least the radio range be better, as a balancing factor? Sadly, no with 635m to the 703's 730m. The good ole' balancing factor of giving premiums a lower radio range than their tech tree equivalents is out the window. This makes me sad. We all know how bad premiums perform when they have subpar radio range. The Defender for example. Absolutely disgusting, it just receives static. The Patriot suffers from that too. Absolute trash, that radio. I bet you it can only receive the Star Spangled Banner on that tin box.
Is there anything you are looking forward to, then, Atuin? I'm looking forward to the tier 9, even though it seems marginally better than the tier 8 premium (+20 pen and +200 dpm is all it gets really), and the tier 10 will be an absolute legend.
Chill out man, are you always filled with this much RAEG? No, I'm not an Angry Marine (look em up, it's fun), I have a wonderful outlook on life. I just hate this kind of model with a passion. This is a pathetic move from WG.
I feel sorry for the IS-2-II. When I look into it's dual barreled eyes, all I see is a sad, pathetic, drooling, cross-eyed poor thing of a tank and I actually feel bad. I feel that I want to kill it quickly, ending the suffering that it calls life. Unlike the TOG, who laughs heartily with every slow stride, or the majestic British lights, who delight in the collective illusion that they possess battleship guns, this tank will limp its way across the battlefield, gurgling all the way, waiting for the moment of salvation.
Make it a proper, competitive tank. It's not hard, you morons.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/ebtth9/wg_dont_make_the_is2ii_suffer_from_amx_65t/
